This application is related to copending application U.S. Ser. No. (93-0835) entitled "Control of Audio Effects in Radio Broadcast Receivers", which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates in general to radio receivers having stored radio station memory presets, and more specifically to storing audio treatments or audio effects in association with stored radio station presets.
Radio receivers, such as automotive audio systems, commonly use memory presets to facilitate tuning of frequently listened to broadcast stations. A typical receiver may have six memory buttons for storing six AM stations and 12 FM stations. Each memory button stores two FM stations by designating two FM banks, e.g. FM1 and FM2, which are accessed by pressing a control button for changing the receiving band.
To store a station, the desired station is tuned-in using manual or seek tuning. A selected memory button is pressed for a certain length of time, such as about two seconds. While the memory button is pressed, the audio sound output is muted and then returns once the broadcast station has been stored into the receiver memory corresponding to the selected memory button. Once a station is stored, pressing the selected memory button for less than two seconds will cause the radio to tune to the stored station.
Another feature of radio receivers is the ability to adjust a variety of treatments or audio effects for the received audio signal. Tonal qualities can be adjusted to the listeners preference, including treble level control and bass level control. Equalizers are employed to adjust the levels of more finely divided audio frequency ranges.
The sound image can also be adjusted using left-right balance and front-rear fade controls.
With the introduction of digital signal processing (DSP), additional treatments of the received audio signal are becoming available. For example, sound field simulation (also called concert hall emulation) adds selected reverberation to the reproduced audio to simulate various listening environments such as a concert hall, jazz club, or a stadium.
These various audio effects allow individual listeners to optimize an audio system to their individual preferences depending on the type of broadcast programming being received. For example, when listening to a "talk" radio station, it may be desirable to cut low frequencies to reduce "boominess" and to cut high frequencies to reduce noise, thereby improving speech intelligibility. Some operators/listeners may prefer to enhance bass levels when listening to rock, while some may prefer to enhance treble level when listening to classical or jazz music. Sound field simulation will also be selected according to the type of programming being received. For example, a jazz hall emulation may be desirable when listening to a jazz broadcast station.
When an operator retunes a receiver in order to listen to a different broadcast station, the audio effects can be readjusted to suit the programming of the new station. However, accessing these unique audio effects each time a radio station is retuned can become inconvenient.